© 2026

For assistance accessing the Online Public File for KAXE or KBXE, please contact: Steve Neu, IT Engineer, at 800-662-5799.
Donate
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Science and Nature
Custom graphic of vibrant colors and John Latimer looking at a plant.
Phenology with John Latimer

Monarch butterflies: Minnesota's unlikely martial artists

By Charlie Mitchell
Published June 24, 2026 at 4:49 PM CDT
Two large orange-and-black butterflies mate on a purple flower in Minnesota on Aug. 22, 2024.
Contributed
/
Courtney Celley/USFWS via Flickr
Monarch butterflies mate on a blazing star plant in Minnesota on Aug. 22, 2024.

During the Phenology Report for the week of June 23, 2026 Staff Phenologist John Latimer remarks on monarch butterfly mating, a good crop of berries ripening, and turtles nesting.

What have you seen out there? Let us know: email us at comments@kaxe.org or text us at 218-326-1234.

For more phenology, subscribe to our Season Watch Newsletter and podcast or visit the Season Watch Facebook page.

Funding for this project was provided by the Minnesota Environment and Natural Resources Trust Fund as recommended by the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR).

Latest stories

Tags
Phenology with John Latimer PhenologyKAXE Morning ShowKAXEPhenology ReportSummer phenology
Charlie Mitchell
Charlie Mitchell (she/they) joined KAXE in February of 2022. Charlie creates the Season Watch Newsletter, produces the Phenology Talkbacks show, coordinates the Phenology in the Classroom program, and writes nature-related stories for KAXE's website. Essentailly, Charlie is John Latimer's faithful sidekick and makes sure all of KAXE's nature/phenology programs find a second life online and in podcast form.<br/><br/><br/>With a background in ecology and evolutionary biology, Charlie enjoys learning a little bit about everything, whether it's plants, mushrooms, or the star-nosed mole. (Fun fact: Moles store fat in their tails, so they don't outgrow their tunnels every time conditions are good.)
See stories by Charlie Mitchell
Creative Commons License
Our stories may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. We ask that you edit only for style or to shorten, provide proper attribution and link to our site. Please see our republishing guidelines for use of any other photos and graphics.